Malta has an acute shortage of blood at the moment. We are being made aware of it with continuous reminders in the papers and in the media. One of the adverts claims that there are 300,000 people in Malta who can donate blood but only a shocking five per cent actually do so. As I am a foreigner, I rang the blood bank to ask if I am allowed to donate blood and I was told that I could, provided that I had a Maltese ID card. The next day I went to the smart new premises, with very friendly staff, and signed up. On giving my details I was also handed a form to fill in.

This consisted of 40 questions about one's health history and sex life. All obviously very important as the blood donated should be of the purest quality possible. Two questions surprised me:

Question 34, which asks: "Have you been to the United Kingdom for a cumulative period of six months or more between 1980 and 1996?" automatically disqualified me from donating blood as I had lived in England for just over a year in the late 1980s. I was told that this was due to Crutzfeldt-Jacob disease (mad cow disease). Incidentally, my Maltese husband is also barred from donating blood as he too lived in England during the specified time.

I cannot help being a little puzzled here. Does that mean that if I had lived in the UK for less than six months I would be eligible to give blood? Can you carry the said disease in you for over 20 years without knowing? Can the disease not be detected in blood samples when screened?

Furthermore, did Malta not import meat from the UK in the 1980s and 1990s? Was there not a risk at all for Maltese holidaymakers in the UK to have eaten beef there in during that period if they went there for less than six months?

What happens when Maltese are sent to England for medical treatment which requires blood transfusion?

In the UK, do they only accept blood from people born after 1996, which makes them only 12 years old?

Question 36 is a little worrying to say the least: "Are you aware of the fact that the tests we carry out are not 100 per cent foolproof and therefore an AIDS or Hepatitis virus infected donation might very not be detected? Do you realise we depend on your total honesty?"

If the tests carried out are not 100 per cent foolproof then how does the Health Department of Malta deduce that blood donated by people whose reply to question 34 is "yes" is more "high risk" than blood donated by someone who unwittingly or wittingly is a carrier of the Aids or hepatitis virus?

According to my calculations, after reading all the 40 questions, keeping in mind our alarming statistics of female related cancers, drugs, sexual promiscuity (Malta has changed) and ageing population, the 300,000 possible donors have dwindled down to maybe a mere 100,000. So maybe it is time to revise the policy regarding the time spend in England 20 to 30 years ago?

Ironically, the Mad Cow disease was discovered by a Dane and here I am a Dane, happily living in Malta, wanting so much to do my duty donating my blood but cannot, due to having spent a little time in the UK over 20 years ago! Can someone, of our very talented professors or doctors in Malta, please look into this matter?